News Bulletin

MAY 14 2014

Master Ayub: A legendary hero

People who believe in Pakistan and are working for its development regardless of any reward or recognition in return. Master Ayub has been teaching unprivileged children for over a decade. In an open air classroom in a park in Sector F-6, he teaches over 200 street kids free of cost. After their morning duties, these children gather in this park every evening to learn, to get education. He is no celebrity nor he is a very wealthy person but his heart is big and he has dedicated his life to teaching poor kids. Is Ayub paid for his services? Not at all, he does it for the sheer happiness and joy one gets for giving back to the community. “If Master Ayub leaves, no one will ever teach us again. He gets us books, stationary and teaches us everything,” Shahzeb, a seven-year-old student, said.

One of the schools built as part of Rota’s INSPIRE project in the Swat Valley in Pakistan. DOHA: Thousands of children are enjoying benefits of Reach out to Asia’s (Rota) three-year Infrastructure Support and Professional Improvement to Revitalise Education (INSPIRE) project in the Swat District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. Working with CARE, Rota has supported the project which provides quality education for children and youth in 42 schools in the Swat Valley, including increasing children’s leadership skills and social cohesion through extracurricular sport activities.

An international conference at Oxford University on May 10 looked at the possible opportunities that may arise out of the multiple crises that Pakistan currently faces. During proceedings and presentations, the 27 speakers — including those from Pakistan, the US, Germany, Canada and the UK — dilated on the security, economy, sociology and foreign relations of Pakistan. Much of the talk centred around the crisis of governance, insecurity, energy issues, ethnic and nationalistic conflicts and Pakistan’s policy discord with India, the US and its skewed policy towards Afghanistan. Ironically, even relatively optimistic speakers predicated their projections on several ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’.

In the year 2000, Pakistan adapted the Millennium Declaration and pledged to achieve 16 national targets and 33 indicators by 2020. As only five years remain, it is becoming clear that the country is seriously lagging behind and will miss at least 23 of the set targets. The MDGs mainly focus on human development including issues such as poverty, food security, education, gender equality, child mortality, maternal health, environmental sustainability, curtailment of HIV-Aids and global partnership for development. The lack of progress can be attributed to several factors: the sudden collapse of economy in 2008, natural disasters in the form of floods, political turmoil and poor security situation. However, the country’s leadership and institutions cannot be allowed to escape responsibility as they’ve displayed a serious lack of will in meeting these important challenges.

Two teachers were gunned down when unidentified armed men opened fire near a government high school in Chasma Jaat area of Hangu district today morning. According to police, the school teachers were on their way to discharge their duties at the government high school in Gul Bagh area of Hangu at 7:30 am when armed attackers ambushed them with bullet shots, leaving the two teachers severely injured while the assailants escaped successfully from the scene.

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DISCLAIMER: Alif Ailaan and/or DAI Pakistan don’t solicit or collect anything in cash or kind as consideration for any of its project activities or otherwise from any person, natural or legal, in any part of Pakistan, and, therefore, Alif Ailaan and/or DAI Pakistan shall not be liable for any claims in respect thereto.